Lesley, Kim The NAS gives an alternate name for John's father i.e John. I suppose that could be a (19th century) clerical error. Kim, this may not be your John. There are quite a few 'McCarters' in the 1841 Scottish Census, and some in Dundee. Perhaps your John went over to Australia as a free man. His baptism details may well not have been recorded in the Church of Scotland registers and would not appear on Scotlands People. His parents may have belonged to one of the secessionist Churches. In 1696, a statute was introduced in Scotland that required landowners of each parish to appoint a schoolmaster to teach children to read and write. The schoolmaster was paid a small fixed salary but also depended on fees to supplement his income. The Kirk Session paid the fees of poor children. The Church of Scotland played a significant role in this, being reponsible for inspecting schools. No funding came from Government sources and schooling wasn't compulsory and its success depended on the enthusiasm of local landowners and church ministers. It would also depend on the enthusiasm of the parents. (Source: Education and the Scottish People. R.D Anderson, Oxford University, 1995.) I have 19th century ancestors from Nairn in the North East of Scotland, who were unable to sign their marriage certificates and had to make their mark with an X - mainly fisherfolk who probably had something better to do than learn to read and write! But nevertheless, the opportunity was there for those who wanted it. Regards Rhoda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lesley Uebel" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 8:18 AM Subject: Re: [AUS-CON] McCarter: Trial details > Hi Kim > > > The NAS does state:- > > John McCarter, alias McArthur, son of Hugh McCarter, joiner, Age: 13, > twiner, > Address: Back of Fountain Well, Edinburgh, with father, Origin: Born in > Edinburgh > > > .... so I don't know where the names of Thomas and Fanny come in. > > Although the Indent states could read or write it does not give us any > indication of the level of proficiently > > Regards > > Lesley Uebel > mailto:[email protected] > CLAIM A CONVICT > http://users.bigpond.net.au/convicts/index.html > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Kim and Daz > Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 12:33 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [AUS-CON] McCarter: Trial details > > > You guys are so much help - thank you so much - my convict ancestor does > seem to be quite the problem child - although as was said before times > were > hard. It says on your indent Lesley that he could read and write - would > this be unusual for a boy his age with so many it seems court appearances. > He has listed on his marriage certificate that his parents names are > Thomas > and Fanny, although there is no known birth in Scotland of a John to > parents > with those names, could it be possible that as he came out at such a young > age, that he "adopted" either other convicts or who was assigned to as > parents and used their names? > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >